Animation on FOX Talkback 2022-2023 (Spoilers)

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,278
Location
Framingham, MA
The Simpsons "Habeas Tortoise"

"People on the internet think I'm smart!" -- Homer Simpson.

This will not end well.

Or will it? As far as spoofs of conspiracy internet sites go, it's pretty toothless. It's also not a freaking internet group if every person in the group lives in the same town and meet up together whenever they want. The Simpsons has always been lazy about stuff like that. And it pisses me off.

But you know what? The Simpsons CAN predict the future. Fact. Their ridiculous guesses inevitably become our miserable realities.

Miss Hoover and Gil get married? And it sticks? Good. Frankly, I saw no reason for the marriage to dissolve if the turtle group did in the first place.

Jay Pharaoh was a good casting choice as Drederick Tatum.

I love the animation on Marge massaging Homer's head.

The Couch Gag was funny for being low-tech. That's how the funniest Old-School Couch Gags used to be too.

After hearing the premise I believed the episode could go either way. In reality, it was in the middle. ***.




The Great North "A Knife To Remember Adventure"

I like that they revamped the main title to include Alanis.

The musical numbers grated, as they do on Bob's Burgers.

I find it kind of dumb that Wolf has to apologize to Honeybee for telling strangers he loves them over the phone. My absolute favorite Honeybee moment was a couple of seasons ago when a little kid called her as a wrong number, and we don't hear his end of the conversation, but she signs off confidently saying "I love you too." That's endearing, not something to work on.

It was pretty good. ***1/2.




Bob's Burgers "To Bob, Or Not To Bob"

I love that they added to sinkhole to the grand re-re-opening part of the main title from the movie. It would be neat if that is a permanent change going forward.

I never liked the joke of Bob talking as the burgers. It makes him seem too crazy.

I love Teddy saying "I like it" before the trainwreck of a play even began.

Basically the same quality as The Bob's Burgers Movie. Which is pretty much the biggest reason the show never needed a damn movie to begin with. ***1/2.




Family Guy "Oscars Guy"

Out of The Silence Of The Lambs, American Beauty, and Forrest Gump, the Silence Of The Lambs parody here is the odd man out. Why? Because it's the only one of those that actually DESERVED to win an Oscar. I woulda gone with Shakespeare In Love, although I doubt too many 14 years olds have seen it. It's been pretty much forgotten in the meantime.

If Chris wasn't Buffalo Bill, I would have been pissed. Seth Green based his entire voice performance as Chris on Ted Levine from that film.

I love that Buffalo Bill has a Bush / Quayle 92 sign outside of his house. Not subtle. But when has this show ever been?

The best Family Guy American Beauty joke occurred before the show was for real canceled the last time. After Peter talks about a piece of trash blowing in the wind proving the world is so beautiful it makes him sick, God yells down from Heaven, "It's just some trash blowing in the wind! Do you have any idea how complex your circulatory system is?"

Yes, the show manages to point out every bit of unpleasant subtext of American Beauty. The amazing thing is it was always skeevy. We just put up with it because it was an art film. If MeToo had occurred during Shakespeare's time, Romeo and Juliet would be as equally forgotten as that movie was.

Same deal with Forrest Gump. Donna describing the movie as sugarcoating Southern racism is putting it mildly. Peter talks about how badly written the running scene at the end is, as well as how illogical him running out of the crutches as a kid was, but I would have liked the parody more if it took a few more shots at the film's actual quality than that. I firmly believe Forrest Gump is the worst film to ever win an Oscar. American Beauty was a GOOD film that in no way shape or form deserved an Oscar. I think Forrest Gump is the only Best Picture winning film I've seen that I think is outright terrible.

And no, guys in wheelchairs don't belong on fishing boats. How dumb were 1994 audiences?

It was all right, but I think it was a mistake to do a gimmick parody episode for the season premiere. Bob's Burgers slightly edged out The Great North to win the night of Fox toons. ***.
 

Magmaster12

Master of MAGnets
Staff member
Moderator
Reporter
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
2,859
Wow, that was a pretty weak start for season premieres;

Another Simpsons episode trying way too hard to be relevant but at the least the ending scene made me laugh.

It's a pretty high bar but that was probably the worst episode of The Great North, it was a pretty dumb and predictable premise but I did enjoy Beef's attempts at learning small talk but the songs on this show are hardly memorable.

Yet another episode where Bob gets a chance to improve the restaurant in some way but refuses to compromise. I'm really sick of these plots because they make Bob turn into a grump who refuses change, which is not a good look in today's landscape. Also, Louise's subplot went nowhere it just got forgotten. Hopefully, the rest of the season isn't as lackluster as this.

Family Guy keeps doing these trilogies because they are truly out of ideas but compared to the last 7 seasons this was just average for not being incredibly offensive.
 

Zorak Masaki

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 6, 2002
Messages
8,934
On the official FOX website, the screencap for the Great North episode (if you watch it on there) gives away the ending.
 

[classic swim]

SwimShady
Joined
Sep 26, 2022
Messages
592
Location
USA
I’d say Family Guy’s knack for anthology episodes in recent years has improved the modern run a little.

I mean, for me the parody episodes have at least helped distinguish the last couple of seasons from say, seasons 14-18 where it’s all a blur of the same quality.

Although after last night I can see the 3 movie skit formula wearing thin as well.

That ball throwing dynamic those particular episodes have are more entertaining for me than Brian having a kooky girlfriend or some crap like that for the 77th time.

I still enjoy the show. It’s always a good enough distraction every once in awhile.
 

[classic swim]

SwimShady
Joined
Sep 26, 2022
Messages
592
Location
USA
"Bend or Blockbuster"

I had it on my mind in the past to someday check out the last Blockbuster. I’ve had some fond memories of my town’s old Blockbuster as well. So already this has been the most interesting sounding FG episode in a long time.

The Browns having family fun at the beginning of the episode was sweet. Was also cool to see The Devil again with a Peter-inflicted suicide.

Peter & Francis renting Blockbuster together... that’s an amusing image.

The joke about tons of women’s underwear in the back of the car shouldn’t have made me laugh.

That M*GA scene... I unfortunately expect this type of humor from being stuck in one of the states that doesn’t matter. It sucks.

“A high speed chase is much preferred over a talk with an employee.”

Stewie shutting down Peter’s callbacks was his one good line.



Episode ended up being alright I guess. Made me think about both when I picked up the Family Guy PS2 game from Blockbuster, and the fact I never returned Superbad.


The store was previously goofed on as Lackluster back during Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,278
Location
Framingham, MA
The Simpsons "One Angry Lisa"

Will this be a long review or a short one? I didn't like the episode, so if it's long, I had a lot to criticize, if it's short, I'll have felt it wasn't worth my time to do so. We'll see soon enough.

I liked seeing Jane Kaczmarek as Judge Constance Harm. She used to be a fairly regularly-recurring character back when Malcolm In The Middle was on the air, and Kaczmarek was a bigger name. It's nice to see her again, if only to show the show remembers its vast history. Well, sometimes anyways.

Carl's rant in the bar was great. But I can't help feel it would have sounded better coming from Hank Azaria. I agree with the reasons Carl was recast. I would have done it in the producers' place too. But Alex Desert still sounds "wrong" to me, so to give Carl this big moment and a really "off" voice, makes it much less cooler than it should be.

I have never understood the appeal of Bill Plympton. Come and get me, animation fans. His works look sort of weird and eye-popping, but not a single thing he has ever done over the decades has actually made me laugh. No exaggeration there either. The animation is some bizarre type of humor that isn't actually remotely funny. It's not like Zippy The Pinhead either, where I simply don't get the joke. The jokes are told, hundreds of times over the dude's vast career, and they don't actually posses some deep underground subtlety I cannot grasp. Simply none of them are ever funny.

I felt Marge's plot didn't work because the episode couldn't properly focus on what part of the exercise craze to criticize. I very much liked the idea initially presented that exercise bikes tend to be gifts burdened on women by demanding husbands, but that doesn't work for Marge because Homer already thinks she looks perfect. And Marge is being SO damn sloppy and inconsiderate in her marriage here that I could read Homer's mind. He would not have the sophistication to think the following thought, but what he WAS thinking was almost certainly a cruder variation of it. Were I Homer I'd be like, "I really wish Marge didn't own the high ground so fully in our marriage. I would LOVE to be able to call her on her crap here, but considering all the bad stuff I've done she's forgiven and let go, I simply can't afford to do that." Which is a damn shame. Because she is treating him far shabbier than he usually treats her. And he can't say boo about it.

Lisa being called to jury duty was good and bad. Good because the show found a plausible explanation for a plot idea this stupid (which they don't always bother to do; and the actual answer is that Springfield is a stupid town) and bad because per usual when the show figures out a strong premise and decent execution, they can never come up with a good ending. Family Guy has gotten a lot of criticism since its inception for being badly written and cliched. And while that's true, it's rather rich that The Simpsons is the Emmy-gobbling, critic-proof powerhouse while in its vast 30 year history it's almost never delivered a satisfying ending (outside of season 8). I'm not saying critics should be nicer to Family Guy. I'm saying critics should be far less forgiving of The Simpsons. And yes, including the Golden Years.

I really wish Nancy Cartwright were not in the cast. The show could more easily and effortless going after cults and scams if Bart Simpson's actress weren't a particularly loathsome Scientologist. The cult jokes here are vague rather than specific. They have to go to Jonestown for the second most relatable example other than Scientology itself. And not only is Jonestown a thing far in the past, but there's really nothing similar between that and this. God, I really hate Nancy Cartwright as a person.

Oftentimes if I dislike an episode I will still admire the show for taking a risk, swinging for the fences, and missing regardless. This episode wasn't one of those risky, nearly-admirable failures. It was simply a bland, boring episode that didn't work. So the review was medium-length after all. **.




The Great North "Cillian Me Softy Adventure"

Two things. First, I learned tonight I've been pronouncing Cillian wrong this entire time. Two, I don't care. It's not worth getting mad over. This show is weird. As is the town of the show with their emergency drills. Sounds kind of fun though.

Moon is my least favorite character, but him getting into the office work was kind of funny.

I like when Beef describes the reason he never learned to ride a bike was because his parents were, what's the word, entirely absent. Right on the tip of his tongue, I'm sure.

Ron Funches continues to be a solid voice-over artist. His being upset over the macaroni salad being knocked over was pretty funny.

As was the episode. ***1/2.




Bob's Burgers "The Reeky Lake Show"

The sinkhole re-re-opening in the main title is here to stay!

I love that when Bob talks about the lake giving them bad diarrhea Louise asks him as opposed to good diarrhea?

The trip was hellish, but in fairness, that's only because the Belchers themselves did everything wrong. If they had put in a little planning, and selected a better place, and had a lick of common sense to them, it would have been fine. I'm less annoyed by the situation, than I am that Linda keeps a bag of dead batteries in the closet. This family is begging to suffer in everything they do.

I was kind of annoyed by the end of that to be honest. **1/2.




Family Guy "Bend Or Blockbuster"

It was pretty great. I like the observation that late fees are the thing that killed Blockbuster. They tried to change that policy right before they went out of business but it was too late. Netflix (the DVD rental version) destroyed them for it.

I like that they couldn't get Holiday Road. Mayor West says that Lindsay Buckingham must have said no. That's all right. There are probably very few things in life a man named Lindsay has control over.

For the record, the pink Starbursts are the best. THOSE are the ones you hoard.

They did a great callback at the end for Peter's most memorable antics, but only Stewie is insightful enough to point out that none of those are actually good things.

Family Guy is right about something: Card games are terrible. They really are. I used to play them all the time, but almost none of them were any fun. They were done to pass the time. They have no entertainment or fun value whatsoever. And they are playing the exact same game in Hell because the Devil knows what he's doing.

I am from the Northeast. I see Red-hatted people the same as the Griffins do. They both confuse and frighten me.

Family Guy easily won the night of Fox Toons. ****1/2.
 

[classic swim]

SwimShady
Joined
Sep 26, 2022
Messages
592
Location
USA
[Lisa the Boy Scout]

So usually with modern Simpsons, I only tune in once a year for Treehouse of Horror.

But this was an episode I recently saw get hyped up by others. Particularly due to the promotional image of future Bart revisiting “Roasting on an Open Fire.”

Often times the only episodes these days that garner the most attention besides TOH are either ones where they age up the characters or present a brand new flashback story.

I’m also aware of some newfound praise modern Simpsons has received for recently exploring the dynamics of other characters in Springfield.

This one was an entirely different episode altogether.

Hackers mess with the mainframe of The Simpsons, and so you get various different bits and pieces of episodes that never happened.

More “oh yeah, we predicted that” humor, Homer’s forced to apologize to Finland, we get to see Skinner with two moms; various different things.

They finally made a joke about Chief Wiggum realizing that Ralph is Eddie’s kid.

Of course, I loved the ones where they tried to revert back to the old animation style.

My favorite part was near the end where they did such again, only to go over the “Homer in a coma” theory after he jumped the Gorge in season two.

FE4A7DEA-92B3-46C3-9371-9AB329F5D210.jpeg


I get the sense that newcomers, both with younger fans & new(ish?) staff, have been trying their damndest to dismantle some of the hate.

And for The Simpsons being almost 40 at this point, I think that’s a good step to make if the series simply can’t end.

I was never too scathing about Simpsons. I guess because so much better television has come forward thanks to it.


[A Wife-Changing Experience]

Another lame marriage problem episode & a B plot of Stewie in a toy car.

Thank God that Bonnie Swanson was not a main focus as they were doing the tired deadpan “eh Lois you haven’t been sexually attractive in over 17 years” bit.

Joe Swanson in modern Family Guy is typically the most funny when he’s eager. Shame they only play off him being sad and crippled here.

Also, Quagmire & Donna jog together and are neighborhood friends. Hmm. Guess that’s a step up from having sex with Loretta lol.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,278
Location
Framingham, MA
The Simpsons "Lisa The Boy Scout"

Holy crap. That was probably probably the most literally insane episode of The Simpsons in 34 seasons. "Oh, yeah?" you scoff. "Did it have singing elf jockeys?" Actually, yes! It did! That was part of the joke.

Really, Martin as a secret adult cop, The Dog Scene, everything was nuts. Do you know what's great? The episode description is for Lisa the Boy Scout. None of the insanity is remotely hinted at and it's entirely misleading. This is the first time I can think of a show making an episode description part of its actual joke.

I realize the episode isn't canon, but I loved the Wiseguy scene like nobody's business. He's always everywhere and nobody ever brings it up. He's an actual recurring character.

Predicting the future after Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire was brilliant, as was the notion that everything past Bart The Daredevil was a dream. "I never had a pet lobster? I never went to space?" You think it's bad Pinchy never existed? Trying explaining Lenny to Carl.

The Seduction of Seymour Skinner was the one bit of the episode that went too far. The subtext to that was more than a little bit revolting.

In 34 seasons this episode might have been a turning point. It might have been the point the producers just said "Frig it!" and realized they could do whatever they wanted to do and tell whatever stories they felt like. What's sort of funny to me is that this is apparently a new idea for them. Something this self-evident never occurred to them before this week. Let's just say elf jockeys could potentially just be the tip of the iceberg regarding insanity on this show from this point forward.

Best episode ever. Heaven gets two stars. *****.




The Great North "Autumn If You Got Em Adventure"

The show has improved from its shaky first season, but one of the things I liked about the first season, (and that the show stepped away from) was that Judy was (for the most part) the center of the show. The Alanis Morrissette thing especially said we were getting a large part of the show from the perspective of a teenage girl. All the crazy fun stuff happening here was great. But what I loved most is that it was Judy's story again, and everything else was just happening around her. I miss that aspect of the show very much. I don't find Beef nearly as interesting a main character as Judy was.

I don't blame Judy for kissing Gill. The idea that it was one of his wildest fantasies? That's sweet as hell, as creepy as the list actually is.

I've missed Judy. ****.




Bob's Burgers "What About Job?"

The trilogy episodes of the show are never very good. I'm not sure why that is, but they tend to bore me. This wasn't any different.

And you know Louise worrying about the future deserved a better episode. That is a very realistic and relatable fear and the episode isn't really about that because of the fantasies. I wish the show would stop doing both these and musical episodes. **1/2.




Family Guy "A Wife-Changing Experience"

Wow, that was pretty bad (although Joe's "bad day" was funny). About the only other thing I enjoyed was the implication that Quagmire and Donna have an unheard-of-before-now friendship and a jogging routine. That was neat. In fact this is the first episode Donna appeared in and that Cleveland didn't. Nothing else in the episode worked at

Simpsons won the night of Fox toons. By a lot. *.
 
Last edited:

Neo Ultra Mike

Creeping Shadow of "15000"+ Posts
Joined
May 18, 2006
Messages
19,074
Location
East Northport
You know I do have some thoughts on this week's selection of Animation Domination epiosdes so here's some reviews for them.

The Simpsons "Lisa The Boy Scout" - Man I wish this was one I went into without knowing "oh this is going to be a crazy go nuts kind of episode" but sadly delayed seeing this until I saw a review hinting "oh man insane stuff happens here" especially since from what I saw and heard this was going to be a standard episode. Which yeah, the Simpsons typically doesn't do. You usually know an episode is going off the rails based on the premise and title and they advertise it as such. "The 138th Episode Spectacular" "Simpsons Spinoff Showcase" "Behind The Laughter". This though no not only has the title but basic premise of an episode. Yeah "Lisa joins a variation of the boy scouts and becomes a rival to Bart" doesn't seem like a great episode but it also seems like an episode the show would do so I didn't really expect anything from this episode when I first heard about it but... man is that different having actually not only been teased by what it's about but actually seeing it for myself.

And you know I will gave major props for them doing this now when after season 33 that got a fair amount of people back on board the show would make them wonder where the show really stands now and then totally slapping them with this kind of bonkers insane premise that honestly I think would be more Rick and Morty then the Simpsons. Yeah I could see a R&M episode about the old scientist and his grandson wanting to stop terrible deleted scenes of their show from infecting their precious canon. However though it may be even more meta contexual, something the Simpsons has that this episode uses really well is history and the longetivty of it's show in it's favor. It not only knows episodes people don't like and take major issue with (and I appreciate too of them not going with easy ones like "The Principal And Pauper" which yeah everyone still doesn't care for but the show has beaten on the fact that is a derided episode already) but what ideas would be considered off wall or ones that might be funny for a minute or totally divorced from everything else happening but wouldn't work even within like a tree house of horror ep canon. Like pairing Groundskeeper Willie and Captain McCallister just to have them go "Argh" and "Aye" or saying Lenny is just Carl's imaginary friend or having Flanders convert to Judiasm after Homer steals his moustache or say Eddie is actually Ralph's father. Like those are just silly out there ideas that if you're a fan you can get where they come from but would never want to see in the actual show, but having them be in this out there totally throw away meta unique concept sort of project really works and propels this one in such a unique direction.

And you know though stuff like "22 Short Scenes About Springfield" is the better ep it also had to try and be more "normal" to fit into a basic patchwork of how the show goes but nowadays the writers realize you don't always need to do that so I really love the idea here of these two hackers trying to get money from Disney showing all of these clips and hell all of their stuff from falling more in love to both being named Ashley to them knowing about Disney's newest cash cow character Baby Jeff Goldblum was great stuff. And yeah just going out there with Martin as an adult just pretending to be a kid because of a condition or Homer's apology to Future Bart revealing all the spoilers to the "Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire" take on teh family (BTW it is awfully apparent of them painting over the old footage but I appreciate how they still try and make it look a bit like it took place more in the 90's then now) and the origin of all of those sarcastic guys or how Hans Moleman came to be and Seymore and his mother having double lifes. Hell I also really like how this one ended pretty much pointing out how terrible and cliche "Marge And Homer" break up stories are with "we almost got divorced over something that didn't really matter until Homer apologized by looking sincerely at Marge". IMHO though even more then great episodes just about their marriage actually being healthy like "Pixilated and Afraid" if they're making fun of how lame these kind of stories are they really shouldn't be doing them anymore. But regardless just a really fun incredibly creative ep that yeah I get why people are talking about it so much because of just how it came out and when it did. I hope this means the show continues taking risks because at this point why not?

Bob's Burgers 'What About Job?" - Eh I disagree with Fone Bone about disliking the "three segment stories" episodes of Bob's Burgers as honestly I actually have enjoyed most of the ones I saw plus I totally get why Bob's Burgers does these. See Family Guy is lazy in not only how they sometimes indulge in them 2-3 times a year but FG is also a show where anything can happen within the actual narrative of the show itself and spends a lot of time on cutaway gags so why do they even need so many segmented stories to tell these one off ideas? Bob's Burgers though takes place much more in reality and the fantasy elements these story present do offer more a break from that plus yeah these are much more actual character centric then just riffing on the material. Like we aren't seeing Louise as a spy or treasure hunter or finding new kinds of beef just to riff on Indiana Jones or Children Of Men but the joke and interactiosn that come from them which I do think really work even Bob's more rambly end story admitting to not remembering the movie that well so fudging a lot of the details which yeah just adds to the comedy. Admittedly Animation Domination this night doesn't stand a chance against The Simpsons this week but this was still a fine episode. I do like the idea of Loise's insecurity and feel that was used to tell these stories and the jokes with the characters like Regular Sized Rudy just being a life in friend or Tina having Jimmy Jr. as a bad guy in her story due to her being angry with him at the time are funny bits so I don't have a problem with this one.

Family Guy "A Wife Changing Experience" - You know the Blockbuster episode last week's moral and point you can take more tounge in cheek compared to this one which seems to be more "eh we all get tired of one another sexually anyway no matter how hot you are but if you love that person why should that matter" which with Peter and Lois at this point especially when there's still so many episodes of Peter thinking Lois is hot feels like it rings hollow anyway. I do like the jokes of how needy Lois is for attention and the bit of her dressing as a nurse to give all these old men spongebaths and Peter also being in the cop van for his own sexual escapdes and the two telling this story to sex each other up as Principal Shepard watches was actually funny. The B plot is very meh especially when we've had like bunch of stories of Stewie having a car of some sort though oddly enough the "if you're going for a run" runner did actually wind up working for me. I do think this is the weakest of the three but it's not horrible just very... eh. Which is especially more noticeable compared to the Simpsons this week... BTW I remember when I complained back about this show's Cutawayland" episode not even taking advantage of the premise which this week's simpsons did a million times better so yeah up your out there game FG when the Simpsons can school you so easily.
 

[classic swim]

SwimShady
Joined
Sep 26, 2022
Messages
592
Location
USA
[The Munchurian Candidate]

“Family Guy is brought to you by parent sex!”

I got a dumb laugh out of that writing sequence with Brian. The outfit was a Vinnie throwback.

Kinda funny when Donna was instantly hostile toward the library lady. Sanaa Lathan is definitely getting her money with this season so far.

Chris making fun of Stewie for having a Vizio in his treehouse... as I’m watching Family Guy on a Vizio lol.

Stewie’s updated mancave reminded me of Roger’s Place.

“Sounds like a hippo cloppin around up there.” - I’ve missed a quality Carter quirp

PETAH PETAH PETAH PETAH *plays sound bite of Peter getting his prostate exam*

Lmao... Jesus, man. Peter did say once he would do Babs. Such a stupid scene.

Classic Stewie. First plot involving him that I’ve liked in a long long time.

Of all the episodes in the past 8ish years that went by a Brian + Stewie + Chris formula, I already prefer this one over all the others. They at least got good mileage out of those three.

I just... cannot begin to imagine what will happen once Twitter finds this.

I will say this much; it wasn’t last week’s episode.

It wasn’t the 15487th iteration of unfunny and bland sitcom marriage problems.

Family Guy has always used sex for shock value. Since forever. And ever.

Has it always worked? Not really.

But that’s not to say it can’t! It honestly depends on the delivery.

The way they handled it here... it happened so fast. What I saw on my screen was so idiotic it got me to laugh in the moment. But as I’m processing it right now, I just know it’s gonna piss off others.

I don’t know. This was a very stupid and very strange episode, and that’s what made certain elements refreshing for me at least.

But I’m prepared for this one to add more fuel to the hate pile.

The two Meg jokes were also unforgivingly repulsive.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,278
Location
Framingham, MA
The Simpsons "The King Of Nice"

I'm not going to say I liked the first half of the episode, but I also believed it was possible for the episode to turn out decent as I was watching it. Alas! I was sadly wrong.

The thing I liked initially were Marge's ideas for nice talk show segments. I thought that was brilliant comedy. Why? Not only were the ideas not actually funny, (and stupid), but on some level they were interesting, and sounded like they would actually sort of make compelling television. That sort of describes those awful segments in a nutshell, doesn't it? It was great observational comedy for that reason.

I also thought it was the show tempting fate to bring up the fact that it makes no sense to keep making new episodes once a show has 700+ episodes in the Streaming Can. There are two things I need to say about that joke (besides the fact that it's true). It tells me on some level the producers WANT Fox and Disney to just cancel the show. They are pretty clearly telegraphing that. And frankly, they are right that it's in Disney's best financial interest to do so. New episodes cost a LOT of money to produce, and essentially gain them nothing. The other thing I want to mention (which is really two things) is that The Simpsons is one of my favorite shows of all time. And if it were canceled tomorrow, I would be all right with that. There are some shows for me where one of those things is true, but this is the only show where BOTH of those things are true.

I also like that when Marge claims it's antifeminist for Lisa to complain about her career, that Lisa doesn't become sheepish and think Marge has a point. She instantly points out the segments themselves are sexist and antifeminist. I kind of wish that more feminists would do the same thing whenever Lena Dunham whines that people only talk smack about Girls because they hate powerful women. I think the truth is people like Dunham give feminism a bad name. I'm a dude so I can't state that for certain. (And I don't have a right to state that for certain either). But yeah, if you want to tell people they are criticizing you because they are against female empowerment, maybe not do as much anti-woman, disempowering stuff as Girls. But I have become ambivalent about Lisa's feminism in recent seasons. I think she just gained a large bit of credibility back with that.

I think where the episode fails is trying to find the why and how about why Daytime TV's atmosphere is toxic. And do you know why I can't get behind the show's moral there? Because the animation industry is toxic. Including behind the scenes at The Simpsons. I don't feel that this show has any business throwing stones about abusive business practices while airing on Fox and treating its animators so shabbily.

I do have to point out it's been a long time since we've gotten a Krusty episode, much less heard his trademark laugh. I wish Krusty had been more present in the last two acts. And if they were gonna get Drew Barrymore back, she should have played Sophie. I fully expect them to roundly ignore the fact that Krusty didn't go back to his kids show at the end of the episode in future episodes.

The Simpsons taking shots at The Establishment played better 30 years ago. Now? It IS the Establishment. That's not something I can just ignore. **1/2.




The Great North "Code Enough Said Adventure"

I'm not going to bother giving that a full legit review. It was too damn stupid. I'm not giving it that much credibility. It doesn't deserve it. 0.




Bob's Burgers "Comet-y Of Errors"

I don't think I've actually HAD kettle corn, at least not FRESH kettle corn.

I loved Bob's righteous rant to Teddy about how there are no signs and our lives are up to us. Which is why the episode having Bob change his mind upon seeing the seal pissed me off so much. Bob's moral was the right one, especially since Teddy was thinking of breaking up with his girlfriend and hurting her by doing that over his nonsense. Walking that idea back is wrong.

The funniest joke in the episode was Gene speculating on what the woman did with all the extra exploding paper. He said she would write her life story on it, and destroy it in front of the New York Review of Books, and tell them they wouldn't get it. The show thinks Gene is funnier than I do. But that was legit funny.

So-so week. I wish the episode had let Bob keep the high ground with Teddy at his most obnoxious. **1/2.




Family Guy "The Munchurian Candidate"

I can't believe they did that. That was super disturbing. Honestly, Fox should have nixed that.

Speaking of disturbing, the "Parent Sex" joke just freaked out every 14 year old in the audience.

I did laugh at the end with Meg saying Stewie shot himself. Unexpected capper to a dark and unpleasantly cruel plotline.

Who won the night of Fox toons? Nobody really. Certainly not the viewers. *1/2.
 

Perla Magica

Digital Love
Joined
Jul 29, 2016
Messages
1,713
Location
Poland (Europe)
Duncanville, S03E11 "The Young and the Bexless"

It's cool that Bex has her episode story in this season because she's underrated and she deserves a character development too. Annie and Jack's story was kinda fun too.

Good episode. 7/10

Duncanville, S03E12 "Witch Day 3"

This year's Witch Day was quite interesting and frightening at the same time.

The B-plot was more entertaining than the A-plot.

And the ending suggests that we will never get a Christmas episode of this show. Never ever. Thanks, FOX. 8/10

Duncanville, S03E13 "The Dudliest Catch"

This episode dives deeper into Duncan's crush in Mia. Honestly, I got excited for how this episode's story will go and it surprised me.

Duncan's convince that he and Mia are now a couple after getting a small kiss at the photobooth meets with the reality which Mia is not ready for a serious relationship with him. Things like being a serious relationship takes time and both Duncan and Mia are still young and a bit unexperienced. Honestly, I can accept that they're not ready to become a couple yet and can still hanging out as friends.

Jing's story was quite funny and also educating. A cartoon character from the 80's being a bad role model for a 5-year-old actually shows us that some bad words and behavior can be hurtful, especially when the creator and the voice of Huxster demostrate it directly to Jing. The lesson is: Don't be like Huxster, kids.

That "Back to The Future" parody ending was unexpected.

Great and very character developing episode. 8,5/10

Duncanville, S03E14 "The Pursuit Of Daddyness"

It was an okay episode to be honest and it's nice to see Bryce and Garrett again. The B-plot was okay too. 6,5/10

Duncanville, S03E15 "The Sharent Trap"

I really liked this episode.

Metaverse is now canon in this show.

I liked that Duncan and Kimberly team up to make Jing's school play more interesting by making it a psychological drama.

And the episode's end was really sweet and teaches us that family memories do matter if you share them together not only on Facebook.

A very great episode and to be honest with you, this episode should been the series finale than the next episode I'll talk about next. 8,5/10


Duncanville, S03E16 "Ditch Mitch Or Die Tryin'"

In the main story we see more of Mr. Mitch's character development and has more expressions outside his cool attitude. Feeling sorry for him after his recent break-up with his girlfriend Annie and Jack take Mr. Mitch to bowling to make him feel better, and all three become friends.

The small B-plot with Kimberly and Jing refusing to pick up Mr. Mitch's dog's poop and being chased by Mayor Jen was probably the craziest story.

Annoyed by Mr. Mitch's clinginess Annie and Jack try to not hurt his feelings when they gently said they don't need him anymore, but they accidentally make Mr. Mitch once again heartbroken, and on the next day he become cruel on the students. It's heartbreaking to see Mr. Mitch like this but this episode shows us that teachers have feelings too, and Duncan made a good point on this.

The A-plot and B-plot come together at the episode's end and it made a really nice happy ending. Annie and Jack apologize for those hurtful words and Mr. Mitch became town's hero for picking up Mavis' poop. Oh, and there's a beach party at the end. R.I.P. Ophelia, we hardly knew this little hamster.

This episode might not be the best to wrap up the series but it was okay.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna miss this show so much. I know it's such a pity for this one to get cancelled too soon, but knew that three seasons are good enough for show's lifespan (of course if Hulu changes its' mind about renewal which now is impossible). Duncanville was probably the best out of all modern FOX cartoons that captures the magic of the earliest Simpsons' seasons and explores the relatable aspects of the modern family. I'm glad that I gave this show a chance after a rocky start back in 2020 and stayed with it 'till the end.

Farewell, Duncanville, thanks for the family fun and laughter over these 2 years. I guess I'll just stick with Housebroken for now. 6.5/10
 
Last edited:

Magmaster12

Master of MAGnets
Staff member
Moderator
Reporter
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
2,859
The Simpsons episode was meh, the show is really bad when it comes to parody like they're just taking jokes from some cynical guy sitting in the corner of the writer's room who has nothing insightful or funny to say about the source material. This should have ended on the same note as the Clock Work Orange parody just trying to parody as many Stephen King works as possible but instead, they just chose to make fun of the name Tommy Knockers.

The Great North was really funny this season is really starting to pick up in terms of comedy.

I really liked both the plots in Bob's Burgers and it was great seeing an older character like Flip and Zeke's cousin. Also, Jimmy Jr's mom got mentioned twice in this episode I guess he is now living with her while his dad is in jail.

Family Guy was generic and unfunny as per usual so it's basically a tie between Great North and Bob's Burgers.
 

[classic swim]

SwimShady
Joined
Sep 26, 2022
Messages
592
Location
USA
[Not It]

Not one, but two Treehouse of Horrors this year.

I was intrigued from the start with the sight of scenarios being reversed. Like showing Lisa with Bart’s personality, or having Homer end up as sad as Moe by not having Marge there. Which by the way, the Doh’s sign gag was admittedly pretty good.

The Barney death at the beginning was funny NOT because The Simpsons finally took a shot at the film or anything like that; it was funny specifically because it was Barney.

Most would’ve wanted a parody like this to have happened years ago. And while I’d be inclined to agree, I do think it’s nice that this got a standalone episode. I would’ve been fine if they had just done this in the regular format.

That being said, the episode probably would’ve been more funny as a short. This one tried to have a stronger narrative than “everyone dies.” Here’s the thing though... giving it a happy ending isn’t all that fun because that’s not what Treehouse of Horror is for.

They also could’ve went more in on how terrifying Krusty, or Krusto was. For most part it was alright. It is spot on that he would still be the unfunny clown in this story.

The Kang & Kodos cameo felt a bit rusty.

All that spooky fan art at the end of the episode was great. I believe there was some complaints about participant winners not receiving payment and that “exposure isn’t enough.” I come from a time when Adult Swim would televise ATHF fan art just to amplify that passion. I understand paid commissions are much more prevalent now and some people depend on art to make money. I’m definitely not opposed to a small cash prize for them but I really think you’re pushing your luck with a TV contest.

Side note, Super Intense Kid Chalmers should be an actual throwback story episode for Chalmers if it’s not already.




[Unzipped Code]

Jerome bringing up Teddy Pendergrass... of course lol.

Couple of really good bits such as Leapy the puppet, and that Union Head giving Joe the business.

In general I’m quite happy with the amusing minor characters that Mike Henry played throughout the episode.

I feel this was Arif Zahir’s best episode yet.

Some of the episodes with Cleveland since he’s returned hasn’t done much for me. Typically it always involves Peter & Cleveland being at some odds with each other, and it’s not as fun as some of the other stuff with Cleveland earlier into the revival.

This one was actually fun though. With the significant slight absence of cutaway gags since this season started, this episode had a fair balance and was overall entertaining.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,278
Location
Framingham, MA
The Simpsons "Not It"

2 Halloween episodes this year! And the first one is a full-length story!

I like the show because it tries new things, even in its 34th season. That being said, the reason the Halloween segments are short is because a little of that kind of spoof goes a long way. For that reason this episode feels wrong in a lot of ways.

I liked the reverse Bart and Lisa, but the romance between Marge and Comic Book Guy was bad for obvious reasons.

I love Kang and Kodos making fun of how scary The Tommyknockers sound. They're making fun of it because the name DOESN'T actually sound scary and the book was one of Stephen King's legit failures. You can make fun of the haunted car all you want, The Tommyknockers is a grand failure for a lot of reasons. Christine is simply a disappointment.

Kudos to the show for breaking a long-standing rule about Halloween episodes. Demerits for the longer story being as thin as the joke short spoofs. ***1/2.




The Great North "Woodfellas Adventure"

I thought the premise was a little too ridiculous (and so is the town) but Wolf's speech at the end was still pretty great.

The final song over the end credits was awful.

The thing I like about Crispin is that he has a real person's voice.

My favorite part of the episode is that when Wolf says it should have been him, Beef corrects him that it's is NOT a bad thing a wooden dummy was burned up instead of his son. Just trying to keep things in a bit of perspective here, folks.

It was all right, but I feel like the show has been a bit off the rails in recent weeks. ***.




Bob's Burgers "So You Stink You Can Dance"

It's been a long time since we've had a great episode but that was awesome.

Tina's speech at the end was amazing, and the thing I love most is how concerned Zeke is throughout the episode. It's an entirely new facet to his character. And Tina is right that maybe back-up dancing isn't Jimmy Junior's thing. Maybe he's lead dancer material. Not in any real-life definition. But the class turning on the butthole teacher shows that there is truth in what she is saying, and after their week of abuse the students recognized it too. The daggy white dude in the bleachers was annoying until he expressed solidarity at the end. As a rule, the adults on this show suck. I like that this one was actually put in his place.

I think Teddy summed up the subplot best upon Bob's triumph: "It's sad how much he needs this." And I'm glad he got the minor victory too, but I have to find it ironic that Teddy of all people is able to recognize how much this actually doesn't matter.

The funniest joke for me was Linda saying she was going to burn the restaurant down, then she says, "Just kidding. I'll put it out." Perfectly Linda thing to say. I also liked hearing another reference to the mysterious Ginger. Like the top of Louise's dead, I would actually like to see Ginger at some point.

Best episode in a long while *****.




Family Guy "Unzipped Code"

It was all right. I like that the head guy came back at the end.

The bit with the ketchup was funny too. I also love when Quagmire said this wasn't dinner conversation.

I've never listened to Teddy Pendergrass but the jokes were funny. I also loved the bit of the Millennial watching at home telling the other dude to do the work.

Bob's Burgers won the night of Fox Toons with a five star episode, but this was decent. ***1/2.
 

Neo Ultra Mike

Creeping Shadow of "15000"+ Posts
Joined
May 18, 2006
Messages
19,074
Location
East Northport
The Simpsons "Not It" - You know it's weird how the show never capitalized on doing a TOH on It back in the day since yeah the original 1990 It Mini Series was a big hit and honestly Krusty is one of those characters who though still obviously used a lot and a major player now (even having a starring role in the last episode which I actually liked for it's mocking of daytime TV honestly) felt like probably one of the top supporting characters outside of Mr. Burns. Of course it makes sense more now to do it since It became an even bigger hit thanks to those last two movies (which I really didn't like 2017 It... I actually like 2019 It a lot more since I felt it had better story beats and wasn't as much just building up random scares for a group of characters only slowly learning about) though oddly the show waited so long the comics already did a parody of this. However I do appreciate the show going in a totally different direction and just totally embracing "you know what? We're doing this as a full alternate out of canon Treehouse of Horror we can do whatever sort of story we want" which resulted in a very funny enjoyable episode. Honestly in terms of jokes I was laughing at least once a minute at a lot of the bits here; "typically if someone has to tell you're they're the funniest they aren't that funny", Homer putting Barney's picture over Smithers, Super Intense Bully Chalmers, "It's a fair fight... run away!", Carl pointing out he's the only black kid in Maine, not needing to see Comic Book Guy's encounter with Krusto, "we'll have to do the thing we all fear the most... study!" "oh but it's summer!", Krusto getting stuck in the TV, Krusto's weakness being people actually laughing at him and eating those bombs just for the sake of the joke, Carl's Armaggedon esque job he left for as well as Moe ventrquillest actually being on tour, "Kids dying is a kids problem we're adults we don't have to worry about that", Homer now being the only virgin, the store of Stephen King items, "Now it's personal... just like it's always been!", Krusto torturing the group with adult anxieties, Krusto's rant about not wanting to start over and blaming cancel culture as he was defeated and Kang and Kodos referencing other Stephen King properties just laughing about Tommyknockers. I think joke wise the only things I felt were a missed opportunity was making a jab of the idea of Marge having hooked up with everyone BUT Homer in the loser's club (referencing how Stephen King used Beverley in the books which yeah was pretty messed up and always deserves to be roasted) and finding a reference to one of the dumbest King monsters the Langoliers. But yeah the humor was great. Hell I really liked even the idea of them actually having Comic Book Guy get with Marge and actually having Bart be the smart and reasonable one and Lisa the prankster rebel. I guess if the ep was longer I would of liked more of it but I get only 20 minutes and having to run through like two pretty long movies. So yeah just a great TOH special. Honestly seems like the Simpsons is actaully really good at these half hour halloween episodes and hopefully if the show continues going on we at least get another one of these whether it's mocking something or like "Halloween of Horror" just is another halloween episode but yeah easily another great ep this season. Probably not quite as good as "Lisa The Boy Scout" as that was a total surpirse in what it was really about but still a great episode.

Bob's Burgers "So You Sink You Can Dance" - Episodes like this remind me that Bob's Burgers is sort of the new King of the Hill in terms of weirdly sort of realistic kind of hate sink one shot characters you want to see taken down a peg though I think due to just how Bob's Burgers operates these guys are honestly funnier then you would find in KOTH. As though the dance instructor is a jerk he's at least an amusing one and I really liked the ending of Tina telling Jimmy Jr "hey you aren't a back up dancer but your own dance moves are inspiring and you shouldn't be afraid to do them" and Jimmy Junior getting the others to dance around as well. And it is an interesting dilmenia of Tina and Zeke wanting to encourage Jimmy Junior but knowing the guy could tear him down so wanting to know if they should pull him out or let him hear the critique. I also liked the subplot with the home runs. Yeah I figured that Linda would wind up getting more of the luck but I do appreciate the ending joke of Bob coming into the water with a Kayak and finally getting his home run even if he is still struggling in the Kayak. Just good stuff there... not a lot to say as though I was laughing didn't have as many laughs as Simpsons which IMHO is the best show of last night and better then this or...

Family Guy "Unzipped Code" - Honestly for a Family Guy episode this actually felt well written even bringing back the head guy and the testicle stuff at the end well. And honestly with Cleveland's passion for delivering mail and how well he fit in at the brewery I'm actually reminded that in theory he could of pulled off his own spinoff well... granted that Cleveland wasn't usually even in his own show which was even more poorly written usually then Family Guy but it's at least a showing. Plus there are actually some good runners here; the bird stealing the labtop, the hand puppet that took over Peter's body, having to mail in a letter to get in to see the head postman, "he has a beautiful mind" "I never saw that movie. I only saw the spider mans", the bit with the comic the audience had to look up to get, Peter giving cleveland his own mail as a gift and needing to steal ketchup. Like honestly comedy and story wise this one was fine but... yeah episodes like this remind me I seriously can't get into Peter as a character so trying to make us feel sorry for him even within the context of this episode never mind in the show as a hole don't work. How are we supposed to feel sorry for a guy who just wants to goof off at his job and feels bad someone who works at it is being promoted and tries getting him fired because of that? Like yeah I know "show has a status quo" and for some reason they are adament on Peter having this brewery job (even though we're now at the third boss character and the brewery could just be pretty much any office job with how they treat it honestly) but when you are enjoying the jokes and other character bits it is annoying having to be reminded "oh right this jack hole gets to be a jack hole but we have to feel sorry enough for him we want him to remain in that position even though he really shouldn't be" and yeah that takes away from me some enjoyment here. Not a bad ep as yeah most elements worked well and I guess this isn't peter at his worst but with honestly how much more likeable the other animation domination leads are and the show tone's now always being reminded this guy gets away with his BS can get to you every now and then. Also I really hope by the end of Family Guy we do hear the Brown kids speak again or at least them more directly acknolwedge how much screwed over those characters are. They do bring back Loretta to still use every now and then but seriously Cleveland Jr, Rallo and especially Roberta should be used in some form then the nothing they've been given.
 
Last edited:

Spotlight

Staff online

Who's on Discord?

Latest profile posts

How about Mike Pollock as the ideal voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman?
Remember back when people were saying that "Streaming is the (bright) future"?
"I can't wait to eat this baby" - Paramount, presumably looking for tax write-offs
Happy Baseball Opening Day

Featured Posts

Top